The Panthers yesterday were voted as winners of NFL.com's "Greatest Uniform in NFL History" for their alternate uniform from last season, and the victory in the fan-voting contest will "ensure the Panthers will wear their black jerseys, black pants and blue socks together more often" this year, according to Scott Fowler of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. Panthers Equipment Manager Jackie Miles said, "You’re definitely going to see black jerseys and black pants some more now. This hasn’t gone unnoticed in our building." The black-on-black combo has "only been worn once," a Panthers' home game against the Broncos last season. Miles said that the team is "locked into black jerseys five times already this season." The Panthers could "wear black pants as well for any or all of those games and likely will for at least a couple." Unlike NFL teams' gameday jersey colors, the color of their pants can be "decided at the last minute." The Panthers will "wear white jerseys and white pants for their first four regular-season home games." Miles said that they will then "wear their alternate blue jerseys" Oct. 20 and Nov. 3. The Panthers got about 90% of the vote this week, beating the 49ers "in the final for a victory" of NFL.com's contest (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 7/25). The semifinalists in the contest were the Ravens' current uniform and the Chargers' uniforms from '61-65 (THE DAILY).
HOME IMPROVEMENT: In Charlotte, Erik Spanberg reports the Panthers have "taken on a combined" $1.5M in improvement projects for Bank of America Stadium, including "widening and improving the entrances, and replacing the playing field at the stadium and one of the practice fields." More upgrades to the stadium's Wi-Fi system also "have been completed, and access to the NFL Red Zone channel has been added for Panthers app users." Panthers President Danny Morrison said that the game presentation "will feature more music at the stadium -- what he describes as a less-scripted production of features and themes on the video boards and more interaction with fans to increase enthusiasm." Meanwhile, the Panthers also have "extended their radio contract" with Charlotte-based WBT-AM in an agreement that "runs three more years" (CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/19 issue).
